


It's time to decide.

by arfrid



Series: It's time to decide [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anti-Android Sentiments (Detroit: Become Human), Gen, Jonathan Byers is not related to Joyce and Will Byers, Near Future
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:27:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26326384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arfrid/pseuds/arfrid
Summary: The boy, supposedly “Mike”, turned to her, looking her up and down. “Uh, huh… Nancy.”She smiled at them all. “My name is Nancy.”Nancy didn’t show it, but inside, something was clawing inside of her.Some kind of affection.A sudden urge of protectiveness washed over her, and she was fighting the metaphorical barrier that was his order.She pushed, and pushed, and suddenly, it shattered into pieces.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers & Will Byers, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Maxine "Max" Mayfield & Erica Sinclair, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Nancy Wheeler & Mike Wheeler
Series: It's time to decide [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1912981
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Nancy - NC400

**Author's Note:**

> here's my attempt at an android au

“Hmm… Mike, what model should we get?” A figure asked. She seemed to be 165cm in height, with light brown hair that could be considered blonde. She was holding a toddler in her arms with blonde hair who looked the age of 4. Accompanying them was a preteen boy, probable to be around 13 years and 4 months old. He looked upset.

“I don’t care. I don’t even want to be here.” The boy replied, looking annoyed. She stared on, noting the toddler staring at them.

“Mama?” the girl said. The lady looked around, and the toddler pointed at her. The lady walked up to her, smiling.

“The NC400…” She murmured, then turned towards an android. “Hey, how much does this one cost?

The android turned and gave a supreme smile, then said, “Ah, the NC400 is one of our most recent late-teen models. They act more like a babysitter than a teenager, leading to great sibling moments. They can also do the dishes, dishwasher and any virtually any chore.”

The lady smiled. “This one it is. Mike, do you want to name her?”

The boy, supposedly “Mike”, turned to her, looking her up and down. “Uh, huh… Nancy.”

She smiled at them all. “My name is Nancy.”

As the lady, Karen, payed for her, Nancy turned to her new siblings. Mike was observing her warily, but with a friendliness in her eyes. The toddler, Holly, was looking up at her with wonder. Nancy kneeled down to be at eye level with her.

“Hello, Holly.” She said with a kind smile. “I’m so excited to be your sister.”

Holly smiled even wider, then gave her a big hug. Nancy hugged back, happily feeling the beating of the girl’s heart – 105 bpm. Normal for a toddler of her age with the added excitedness.

They broke the hug, and Nancy looked at Mike. He was looking at her expectantly for her to say something. She played it safe, complimenting him as to make him more used to her.

“I like the name you chose for me.” She said. He looked up, and she saw surprise flicker over his face. He smiled.

“Thanks.” He said, putting his hands in his navy-blue jacket pockets.

“Do you know what it means?” She asked. He shook his head. She ran through her mind all the meanings of every name and found it.

“It means grace. Do I look graceful to you?” she teased, making a silly pose, knowing that it would make the pre-adolescent smile. He did indeed laugh. Holly laughed too. She was part of the family.

On the drive back, Nancy observed the area; it was Hawkins, Indiana, and it had evolved a large amount, so that it was no longer a small speck of town-village the map, it was a fairly medium-sized city. There were Android stations, buses, tall buildings, but all in all, it still had that town-y atmosphere.

Holly was telling her everything she saw, and Mike was saying the few interesting facts about the town. She separated the auditory signals from one to another, so she could easily listen to both of them.

“Hey, Nancy, I think you’re really going to feel at home here.” Karen said, pitching the route the little screen, then turning the chair round in her seat to face her. Nancy gave her another smile.

“I think I already do.” She ruffled Mike’s hair, he smiled at her, but it seemed a little forced. Scanning him, she found no evidence of depression, anxiety or other illnesses and mental health conditions.

“Are you okay?” She asked him. He looked startled at the question, then gave a small but genuine smile.

“Yeah. I just- It’s going to be weird having an older sister, I bet.” He admitted. She rubbed his arm.

“Don’t worry. You’ll get used to me in no time.” And she was right. Within weeks, he had confided in her plenty of things that he hadn’t even told his parents. Eventually, she brought him to school every day.

Of course, not every day was a good day.

“Hey, frogface! Your parents finally got you a hot girlfriend android cause you can’t get one of your own!” Troy Walsh said the first day she took him. She gave him the best glare he had, and his bpm went up. There were mutters from everyone as she waved goodbye, and once or twice she was harassed for being an android.

Both of them, however, had ignored it and settled into a routine; Mike would wake up, Nancy would help him and Holly get ready and making sure they brush their teeth thoroughly, then Mike would get dropped off at school, Holly would get dropped off at daycare, and Nancy would wait in android parking until Mike would come back from school, and they’d wait an hour for a walk and getting a snack and a juice pouch for Holly, then pick her up. They’d stay at home almost always for the rest of the day, then they’d go to sleep.

However, one day, during the walk, while walking by an alley, a man came out, beckoning them over.

“Heya kid!” The young adult, maybe early twenties. “You two, I got some cool tech for you. Want to come over and see?”

Nancy put her hand on Mike’s shoulder, but Nancy and his parents and thoroughly warned him what to do and what _not_ to do.

“No thanks.” He said politely, attempting to walk away.

“Okay, so that’s how it gonna be.” The man walked out the alley with two other men, then pulled out a knife. Mike tensed. “Hey, kid. Backpack. Now.”

Mike, glancing at the knife in his hand, grabbed his school bag and walked over to pass it to him. The man snickered and pushed him to the wall.

“He’s all yours, Vector.” Said the man, looking into the bag. One of the men – a man with extremely dark red hair and a beard, diagnosed with delusion disorder – walked up to Mike with a baseball bat.

“Mike.” Nancy warned, silently asking to step in.

“Nancy, stay there.” He told her. The man punched him in the gut and he doubled over. She didn’t even wince, staring. The other man, the one who wasn’t checking the bag, sneered at her.

“Not gonna help your little brother, eh?” He said. He had a heavy British accent. “Bloody useless, androids. If this was _my_ brother, I’d go help him regardless if he told me not to.”

“Nance, don’t.” Mike said. Nancy didn’t show it, but inside, something was clawing inside of her.

Some kind of _affection_.

A sudden urge of protectiveness washed over her, and she was fighting the metaphorical barrier that was his order.

She pushed, and pushed, and suddenly, it shattered into pieces. She took a surprised breath, then looked over at the sneering man and punched him in the face.

“Nancy, no!” Mike yelled, now on the floor, clutching he stomach in pain. The man with the bat clearly didn’t hear him, or simply didn’t care, as he smacked him again with the bat.

The man with the bag, however, did hear.

“The fuck?!” He yelled, letting go of the bag and lunging at her. She looked at the scene analytically, metaphorically slowing time down in her mind and throwing him to the floor.

The man with the bat turned around with crazy in his eyes. Nancy looked at the scene and again, she slammed him to a wall, then pushed him to the floor.

“Mike, are you okay?” She asked urgently. Mike coughed, but there was no blood, and a quick scan of his temperature told her that he was fine, just with a few bruises. He looked up at her, shock written all over his face. “Come on!”

She grabbed his hand and ran. They ran through the streets until they reached a darker alley.

Mike was still in shock after she checked the coast was clear. “Y-You… You sounded urgent… You looked urgent… A-Are you…”

“Apparently so.” Nancy told him. “Look, according to the law, smashing a guy into a wall is illegal, so—”

“It was self-defense!” Mike protested. Nancy gave him a look.

“Self-defense or not, they won’t favor an android. Especially if the people plead not guilty.” Nancy reasoned. Mike fell silent, and she knew that he needed some comforting, so she sighed and decided with a soft approach.

“Hey, Mike. I’m sorry I disobeyed you, and once this is all over, it can be how it was again, alright?” She said, smiling a little. He looked at her hopelessly.

“But it won’t. You’re a…a deviant.” He said. His gaze faltered a little. “How can you promise that?”

Nancy thought, then went with the approach. “Because we’re strong. I feel stronger now. Isn’t stronger better?”

Mike smiled dryly. “You did all the work. I just sat there uselessly.” He sat down, slumping his back against the wall.

Nancy sat next to him, with slightly better posture. She was sure her LED was probably yellow, judging by her thoughts.

“Yeah, but if you hadn’t been so, quote unquote, ‘Useless’, then I wouldn’t be how I am right now, and it feels better.” She countered. He smiled, then started to cry. Nancy put her arm around him, and felt a tear prick in her eye as well.


	2. James "Jim" - HP700

Joyce tapped her hands on the desk, waiting for the Captain of Police, Sam Owens, to tell her what she came in his office for.

A man walked in. He was wearing an android Cop uniform. He had blue eyes, smokey blonde hair and a beard. Basically, your stereotypical Chief-style policeman.

The moment Joyce saw the android triangle, she thought: _Aw, shit._

“Detective Lt. Byers.” Owens greeted. Joyce nodded politely. “This android is the HP700. He will be your new partner.”

“ _Shit_.” Joyce muttered under her breath. “Do I have to?”

Owens gave her a sympathetic look. “You’re the only one who would treat androids as… equals, despite not being human. Everyone else here would treat James here worse than a sack of shit.”

Joyce sighed, knowing Owens was right, but she had at least one complaint about the android.

“ _James?_ Really?” she asked skeptically. Owens raised his hands defensively.

“Hey, Cyberlife chose it, not me.” He reasoned. “Feel free to call it whatever you want, it won’t care.”

Joyce muttered, _“Son of a…”_ before swiftly walking out the office. She heard James bid Owens goodbye and good day, then walked out the office. Joyce could hear him behind her.

“Hello, Detective Lt. Byers.” He greeted. Joyce sighed, then whizzed her chair round to face him. She gave him a smile.

“Please, call me Joyce.” She said with a wave of the hand, then looked over at some case files. “Now, you’re going to ask me what—”

“I hate to interrupt.” He cut her off. She looked up. His LED had turned yellow, but it swiftly turned back to blue. “You seem uncomfortable. Does my presence here make you uneasy?”

Joyce gestured with her hands. “Well, no-one really likes androids, but you seem nice. How about you hand me those files over there, then look through the deviant case files we were sent a while ago.”

James nodded, grabbing the files from the desk and handing it to her, before turning to the computer and looking at the deviant cases.

“…Hey, James?” She called out. He turned his chair round, facing her.

“Yeah?” He asked, sounding curious. She had to remind herself that he only _sounded_ curious, and that he wasn’t actually.

“I don’t like your name. Could we abbreviate it to ‘Jim’?” She asked politely. He gave her a small smile that looked so genuine, she actually believed it was.

“Sure.” He said, then he turned back to the case files. “Hey, look.”

Joyce walked over. There was a picture of a young redheaded girl. “What is it?”

“A YK900 attacked and murdered a man, who we now identify as Neil Hargrove and kidnapped their son, Billy Hargrove. They had bought her a few weeks ago, and Susan, the one who wanted it, claimed that ‘Her dear Maxine would never do this.’” Hopper explained. Joyce thought about why the hell a YK900, a _child_ model, would attack a man.

“Hmm… Let’s take the case.”

Joyce watched Jim knock on the door, her hand vaguely on her gun, and a redhead around 40 years old opened the door, noticeably disheveled.

“Oh! You must be the new…” She faltered as her gaze landed on Jim’s LED. She looked to Susan, and when she saw that Joyce was without the android outfit nor LED, she visibly calmed down.

“Hello, Ms. Hargrove. I’m Detective Lt. Byers, this is my partner, Jim, and we’ve taken the case.” She confirmed, smiling. Susan didn’t smile, but she let them in, if somewhat begrudgingly. “Where did it take place?”

Susan lead them into a bedroom, which was obviously a boy’s bedroom, at least if the posters were anything to go by. The worst things about the room, however, was the body of a man in his 40’s. There was a large amount of red blood on his forehead, with a considerable amount of blue blood on his shirt. There was a baseball bat to the side, completely covered in normal blood.

“Holy shit.” She said. She kneeled down, inspecting the body. Jim also bent down, putting his finger to the man’s blood and licking it. Joyce winced; she knew it was a way of analyzing or something, but it was still disgusting.

“He was presumably drunk, judging by the alcohol levels in the blood.” Jim confirmed. Joyce looked at him surprisedly. He looked around, then looked at a wall that looked like someone had been smashed against. Joyce hadn’t noticed it, but it looked like a teenager’s height and size, possibly a young adult.

“What do you think happened?” Joyce asked Jim, knowing he had a system to let him think more clearly about what happened based on evidence.

“I have a theory.” He said. She nodded, letting him go on. “Mr. Hargrove here must have smashed his son, Billy Hargrove, against the wall. Lots of times, it seems. So when the android saw this, it grabbed the baseball bat and killed him, then ran out with the son.”

“That would make sense…” Joyce muttered. “A child android, though, turning deviant? Why?”

“Some kind of error in the system. Once we get them, we’ll fix them right up.” Jim reassured her. Joyce nodded, but bit her lip. Something didn’t feel right. He stood up, and Joyce quickly followed suite.

“I am so sorry for your loss, Ms. Hargrove.” She said, walking over and putting a hand on the lady’s shoulder.

“I-I just can’t believe my darling Maxine would do this… It’s not like her.” Susan said in disbelief. Joyce didn’t want to point out that her ‘darling Maxine’ was not a person, rubbing the lady’s arm.

“I know. I’m a mother, myself. My boy, he’s not, ‘chaotic’, so to speak, but he still worries me sometimes.” She reassured her. Susan nodded, then hugged her. Joyce hugged back.

As they walked away from the house.

“So, any theory on where it went?” Joyce asked. Hopper shrugged. Joyce didn’t even know her partner could _do_ that.

“If it’s a deviant, it makes irrational decisions with different outcomes. It’s hard to know what it will do. But if I put myself in their shoes…” He closed his eyes, his LED turning yellow. He opened his eyes again. “I would probably go to some deserted alley and attempt to start a plan from there.”

Joyce looked at him, impressed. _Maybe I underestimated him after all. Maybe he’s different._

“Well, there are thousands of alleys. We can’t search every single one, so…” She trailed off, thinking of what they could do. Hopper tapped her on the arm.

“I got a report of a NC400 attacking three men in an alley. Let’s investigate that.” He said. Joyce nodded, impressed even more.

“Yeah, let’s see that.” Joyce said.


	3. Jonathan - JH700

Jonathan pulled out another weed, and planted some brand-new seeds. They were going to grow, and get the nutrients they needed, thrive, then die, and then the cycle would repeat.

It was boring, to say the least. However, part of his job was educating any children that came into his greenhouse, so a 9-year-old William Byers had walked in four years ago, and he had a new objective.

He taught the young boy how to put in seeds, pat the dirt down and water them. The boy absolutely loved learning, and was appalled to find out he didn’t have the name, so he named him Joe-Nathan, but Jonathan said maybe Jonathan would be a more suitable name, and that was how it was.

He would come visit one, two, three times a week, sometimes even more, and came to learn whatever more to learn about plants. However, after a year, when he had basically learnt everything he could about them, he came in to draw and monologue about his friends.

Technically, Jonathan was supposed to ignore them once they learnt all they could, but he couldn’t help but listen to the boy, vastly interested.

Will, at one point, decided to teach him Dungeons and Dragons, and while he watered the plants and patted down soil, he was mostly focused on what the little boy had to say. Once he was finished, he would sit in front of him and listen to Will monologue to him about his friends and how great Mike was as DM, how good Dustin was at distracting and killing his enemies, etc.

At one point, Jonathan had asked about his mother, and if he was ever going to meet her. Will had given him a nervous chuckle and said: “Well, my mom doesn’t like androids. I’m sure she would like you, but just in case, I tell her I’m studying or hanging out with my friends.”

So that is how it was until Will was thirteen. Happily chatting, talking, monologuing.

Jonathan would be there all day every day, so Will would come around 3 in the afternoon, probably from school and chatting to his friends, stay there until 7, then leave.

He wasn’t too worried when Will didn’t walk in the doors at 3. His friends probably just wanted to show him a new game they had discovered or something of the like.

When he didn’t appear at 4:45, he started to get worried. Will was never this late. He was sometimes forgetful and apparently extremely shy (though he was a complete chatterbox when he was in the greenhouse) but he never forgot to come or lost his way to him.

At 6, he was contemplating leaving and looking for him. He wasn’t supposed to leave his post, so he kept watering the plants, watching the entrance intently.

At 6:56 he felt something.

**DON’T LEAVE YOUR POST.**

He wanted to.

**DON’T LEAVE YOUR POST.**

He _needed_ to.

He pushed.

**D &N’T L8AV3 YOUR P0ST.**

He punched.

**9 &n’T %8sX3 8OU# o0ST.**

He teared at it like a wild animal.

**9 &n’/ %8sX3 8¡\\# o0ñ*.**

He broke through.

Suddenly, he felt free. Before, he had just seen his hands. Now he _felt_ them. It felt like he was opening his eyes.

Walking out the greenhouse, he felt freer than he had ever done before.

He could focus on that later.

_Objective: Find Will Byers._


	4. Max - YK900

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow three chapters in one day??? wowwww
> 
> also dont get used to it. knowing me ill probably forget about it and not write for days lmaoooo

“Oh, you’re wonderful!” Susan exclaimed as Maxine opened the door and helped her out.

“Thank you, Mom.” Maxine said with a smile. She helped her new stepbrother out the door but he slapped her hand away. “Come _on_ , can’t you teach me something? Like, basketball?”

He looked at her coldly. “Don’t you already know that shit?”

“I need you to teach me, asshole.” She said, adapting to his nature. He looked surprised.

“Hey- did you teach the kid to swear?” Billy asked Susan, but she laughed it off, saying about _how funny you are, William!_

He looked at her, seemingly judging her. “I’ll think about. Beat it.”

So, with that, she ran off to learn something else. Outside, she saw a skateboard that must have belonged to Billy at some point. She grabbed it and started doing tricks, yelping and laughing when she fell. Susan watched her, smiling.

“Maxine! Dishes!” Came her father’s voice. She put one of her feet down and the skateboard stopped.

Susan looked nervous, and walked inside. She could hear them well, thanks to her improved auditory system, and he heard Neil yell: “She’s an android and _androids_ do the chores! Now get her in here to get me some damn alcohol and do the dishes.”

Her mother walked out, looking defeated, and beckoned her inside.

“Do I have to?” She whined as a typical child would. Susan gave her a weak smile, so she groaned and walked towards it.

_Objective: Get an alcoholic drink from the fridge._

She walked towards the fridge, grabbing a small bottle of alcohol, a glass and bringing it to Neil. She set the glass down, then poured some alcohol into it, pouring a reasonable amount.

“More.” He said greedily. Max rolled her eyes and before she could put more in, he pinned her against the wall. “Watch how you are against me, stupid android. Once Susan doesn’t want you anymore, we’re going to throw you right out. Don’t forget your place, fucking robot. Now apologize.”

It was in her system to rebel, even just a little bit, so she said, “Why should I?”

He slammed her slightly against the wall, and started to shake from fear. She could feel his breath on her face, could count every hair on his moustache.

“Watch your fucking mouth around here. Know your place, stupid android.” He let go. She let out a relieved sigh, then walking to do the dishes. Midway, her mother joined her.

“Let me, Max.” She said. Maxine had never said anything about the abbreviation, but decided not to.

“Why don’t you leave him?” Maxine asked, genuinely curious, and equally angry.

“Because, he’s the reason you’re here. Just… Do what he says and don’t say any snarky remarks, like you would have.” Susan said. As she realized what she said, her breath hitched, and Maxine, being a curious child in and of itself, couldn’t help asking.

“‘Like I would have’? The hell does that mean?” She asked. Susan shook her head, signaling for her to not ask. Maxine shrugged, then walked back out and started learning to skate again, though her heart wasn’t in it.

That’s how it was for a few hours, with Billy leaving through the window (Maxine decided not to question it – it would build a better relationship between the two anyway), Susan watching something with Neil, and Neil drinking.

A few hours later, late-evening, Billy went back to the garden next to the window, giving her the ghost of a smile, before jumping through. She smiled at the gesture, and walked back in, prepared to talk to him.

She walked into Billy’s bedroom, with Susan not taking any notice of her.

When she looked inside the room, she felt like her thirium pump had stopped working.

Neil was slamming Billy against the wall, drunkenly slurring “Be a real man, Billy. Be a real fucking man…”

Billy wasn’t fighting back, but when he saw her, his eyes widened. Neil caught this and looked back and smiled, even if it was a bit of a sneer.

“Maxine!” He cried. “Come here, come here.”

She walked forward, starting to shake a little. Neil punched Billy in the stomach, hard, making Billy double over and clutch his chest. Neil pushed him down in a kneeling position. “S.. Stay down, Billy.”

He grabbed a baseball and handed it to her.

“Hit him. That’s an order.” He said, sounding slightly more sober.

She didn’t want to hit him. Billy was still clutching his stomach, but he wasn’t looking at her, and somehow that was worse.

**HIT BILLY.**

She hit the barrier with the bat as hard as she could.

**HI T BIL L Y**

She hit it again, this time from above.

**H I T BI LL Y**

She hit it one last time.

**H I T B I L L Y.**

“Well, what are you waiting for, stupid bitch?!” Neil yelled. She swiftly turned around and smacked him on the head. He gasped and put his hand over his head. She hit his stomach, and he clutched it, leaving his head vulnerable. She hit him again.

And again.

He fell, and she kneeled on him, hitting him over and over again.

“Max!” Billy yelled. She hadn’t noticed him reaching over for his pocket knife until he yelled. She unfortunately wasn’t quick enough, and he slashed her chest through her jacket.

She screamed, and grabbed his knife and stuck it in his chest, then took it out. She hit him again with the baseball, and he stopped moving.

“Holy…” Billy started, but Max had grabbed his hand and was running through, stopping in the kitchen.

Susan was looking at her with bewilderment. Max didn’t spare her a glance, and grabbed a can of Thirium 310, before running out again with Billy right beside her. They ran out the house, and Billy took the lead, taking turns and eventually leading her to an abandoned garage.

“What the fuck, Max?! Now the fucking cops will be after us!” Billy yelled at her. She looked down. She didn’t mean to. She had just lost control.

“I-I—” She stuttered.

“I-I!” He mocked. “Get a hold of yourself. I’m out, bitch. I’ve got a better chance of not being arrested if I’m not with you.”

He walked out, and she ran after him, and he started to run too, and she lost him in the street.

She sat down, lost and defeated, and started crying. It just started raining, so her hair was wet now, but she just kept crying.

She was there for about an hour, and no-one helped, no-one asked what was wrong, because there was an LED on her head. She buried her head in her knees, which were almost drawn up to her chin.

“Hey, are you alright?” A voice asked. She looked up. It was a boy. He seemed to be about the same age as her, maybe a few months younger than her. He had chocolate eyes and dark skin with dark hair along with it.

His gaze drifted off to her LED, and his eyes widened. She laughed dryly.

“Go ahead. Report me to HPD for being a fucking deviant.” She said, looking down. Suddenly, he plopped a beanie on her head to hide the LED.

“You’ve got to look human to meet my family, right?” He asked. She smiled and let him help her up.


	5. Come back, comeback.

“Okay, I’ve got a map of Hawkins in my head. There’s a Motel if we go straight, straight, left, straight, and we’ll reach Benny’s Motel for the Lost and Found.” Nancy told Mike. He nodded, staring at the ground and kicking a rock.

“Don’t we have to give you clothes? Like, non-android clothes?” Mike asked, looking up. Nancy cursed herself internally. She hadn’t thought about that. How come a preteen boy can easily remember something so simple that an android doesn’t?

One of the cons of being a deviant, she guessed.

“I… I don’t know. I don’t know any place that would let us in.” Nancy admitted, putting a finger to her LED and running by all friends of the Wheeler Family in her mind.

“Dustin!” He yelped. Nancy looked over, startled by the sudden sound. She went in a defensive stance, intently looking for any threats. “No, Nance, I just… Lead us to the Harrington House.”

“I—What?” Nancy asked. She always remembered all the names that Karen had mentioned, and she had never mentioned the Harrington’s. Looking it up, it turned out that they were a supremely rich family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Harrington, and their two sons, Steve and Dustin Harrington. As it turned out, they had donated greatly to the cause of androids, and a quarter of the money spent on making androids was theirs.

“Dustin. He’s my friend. He’ll let us in. Please.” Mike pleaded. Nancy thought, and if she weren’t a deviant, she would have definitely made a different decision based on the 80% chance of getting handed in.

“Alright. As long as you’re confident enough.” She said. Mike thrust his fist in the air with a distinct, “ _Yesssss!”_ Nancy smiled at his excitedness. “I’m pitching the route.”

“Oh, no need. I’ve run off there more times than I can count.” He told her with a snicker.

Nancy smiled, “Off we go, then.”

“I’m gonna need you to tell me everything you can about the android and your son.” Jim said. Joyce glanced at them warily, keeping track of any sudden movements or expressions. Karen and Ted had been dragged from work and placed in police care, just in case.

Karen glanced at Hopper’s LED. “Well, I—Nancy is a good android. She does the work for us, and she works quite well with children. She got along best with Mike, though. And Holly is, you know, a toddler. She loves everyone.”

“We can’t think of why they’d do this.” Ted said, sounding a bit bored. “I just read that stuff about deviants and think, ‘There’s no way ours would do that.’ But of course, I’ve heard you can never truly trust them.”

Hopper didn’t even look at her, staring intently at them. Joyce walked over to Holly, who was sitting on the floor and crying. She kneeled in front of the girl.

“Hey, Holly.” She said in a reassuring tone. Holly looked up. “Nancy will come back, I promise you.”

“Com’ back?” she asked. “Na’ cy come back?”

“Yes. Right now, she’s just a little lost. Don’t worry. You’ll get her back. I promise.” She said and pat the toddler on the head. The girl smiled at her, then ran to her mother. Karen scooped her up.

Joyce got up, and saw Jim walking toward her.

“They say that they knew the Harrington’s pretty well. Specifically, Mike got along very well with their son, Dustin, so it’s probable that they went there.” He told her.

“The Harrington’s? The ones who donated to androids?” she asked in disbelief.

“The very same.”

“Jesus.” She muttered. She didn’t like androids, but she would like to be a family friend of theirs more than she’d like to admit. “Let’s go investigate there then.”

They walked outside and to the car. Jim sat in the driver’s seat. Suddenly, Joyce was uncomfortable. This scene was all-too familiar.

“Uhm… Could I drive?” Joyce asked. Jim looked to the side, nodded, then shifted so he could sit in the passenger seat. She briefly thanked him, got inside and shut the door. She grabbed the steering wheel and started driving.

“Dustin! Dustin, open the damn door!” Mike yelled. Nancy was quietly debating whether this was a good choice or not when the door opened to reveal a preteen with curly brown hair, a blue-red hat and a blue dinosaur hoodie.

“Mike?” He clarified to himself, apparently. Doing a quick visual scan told her he didn’t have a gun. “Our campaign isn’t till Saturday. What are you doing here?”

“Who is it, shithead?” Came a teenager’s voice from the other room. Dustin turned round to the hallway.

“It’s Mike!” Dustin yelled back.

“Wheeler? The hell’s he doing here?” The voice said. Nancy assumed her LED was bright red right now. Her panic was rising. If they didn’t help…

“Look, I’ll explain everything, we just need some clothes. Please.” Mike said. Dustin looked at Mike, then at Nancy for few long seconds, before turning back to Mike.

“Okay.” He finally said. Nancy sighed a sigh of relief, then followed Mike inside the house and closed the door.

It was a grand house. In the hallway alone there were several paintings from famous painters, there were vases and there was even an old human skeleton head. The living room was extremely eye-pleasing; there was a fireplace that looked so real she could believe it was, even though it was probably just electric fire.

The room looked Victorian but modern; there were several red velvet couches surrounding the fire, a fine red carpet, a considerably large tea-table and a cage of android birds in the corner. The room, in size, was about the size of a large lion cage, even if lions were extinct. There were ceiling-to-floor windows in the corner, that went around 5 meters high before hitting the next floor. They were all dyed a slight red.

Amongst all the red stuck out a grey shirt; there was a teenage boy on the biggest couch. He had doe eyes and a lot brown hair swept to the side.

He got up off the couch.

“We need some clothes. That’s all, I swear.” Nancy pleaded desperately. Steve looked at them surprisedly. Mike looked at Steve worriedly, yet determinedly. He turned to look at Dustin, who had the same expression as Mike.

“Is she—?” He asked, confused.

“I think so, yeah.” Dustin responded. Steve muttered, _“Holy Shit…”_ , staring at her. She felt uncomfortable, feeling a blue blush coming up to her cheeks.

Steve turned back to Dustin, “Do you realize how much trouble we’ll be in they find them? Like, a deviant?”

Dustin sighed, “Do I look like an idiot to you, Steve? Actually no, don’t answer that. Just, come on, you’re a part of the party—”

“Since when?” Mike demanded angrily.

“—And you know the rules. When a party member is in danger, we have to do it.” Dustin finished, ignoring Mike. Steve sighed.

“Follow me.” He said, sounding defeated. He led them to the second floor and walked into a master bedroom, grabbed some clothes from the closet, then plopped them down on the large bed.

Dustin grabbed Mike’s hand, telling of the new shirts that he could give him, and Mike insisting that he didn’t need them.

Steve stayed outside the room, saying how _“I may not like androids that much apart from Dave, but I’m not so much of a dick to see one change.”_ She appreciated that from him.

She looked at the outfit Steve had picked out for him; a camel wool coat, a black turtleneck sweater with dark-blue, almost black, jeans.

She changed into them, looking around the room and seeing a desk with a mirror on it, with a purple scrunchie on the surface of it. There was also a pair of hair scissors, and she looked at her long hair, then started cutting it, shoulder-length.

Then she looked at her LED, then back at the scissors in her hand. She took a deep breath, then put it in the LED, starting to take it out. It stung, like taking out a splinter. It popped off and fell on the desk, covered in a blue blood.

When she came back out, Steve takes one look at her and blushes beet-red.

Mike came out of Dustin’s room wearing a blue hoodie that’s a size too big for him. Dustin came out after, looking proud of himself.

There’s a knock on the door.

Everyone freezes.

“Were you expecting anyone?” Steve asked Dustin quietly. Dustin shook his head, the fear in his eyes increasing. “Yeah, me neither.”

The knock was there again, this time more insistent.

“I’ll go check it out. Dustin, hide them.” Steve ordered in a no-nonsense tone. Dustin nodded, grabbing Nancy and Mike’s hand and leading them to the basement, only to stop halfway when Steve shouted.

“It’s okay! It’s Will!” Steve shouted. Mike stopped, and smiled, a fond blush settling in his cheeks. She looked at him knowingly, and he blushed even more. They walked back down to see a boy with a brown bowl-cut. He smiled when he saw Mike and ran over and hugged him.

“After your family told me… I wanted to know you were okay.” Will said. Nancy smiled at the interaction. Will looked over at her, confused. Mike noticed this and led him toward her.

“Will, this is Nancy. She’s my older sister and she’s a…” Mike faltered. Nancy raised her hand and deactivated the skin there.

“Deviant.” She clarified. His eyes widened, then he smiled.

“Cool! I think I have a deviant friend.” Will said to everyone’s surprise. “Talking of…” He checked his watch. “I’ve got to go, see you—”

“Uh, Will?” Steve said, looking outside the window. “Your mom and an android are coming this way.”

Will’s eyes widened. “She can’t know I’m here. She’ll ground me!”

Dustin nodded and led her, Will and Mike downstairs into the basement. He waved a quick good-bye, saying he would be back soon, then walked back upstairs.

There was the sound of talking from upstairs, and there were raised voices. Eventually, Dustin’s voice joined the fray, and then there was near-silence.

There was the sound of footsteps, then there were steps coming closer to the basement.

“Wait- No!” They heard Dustin protest. Nancy internally cursed Dustin, then put a hand on Mike and Will’s mouths.

“Why can’t we go down, Harrington?” Will’s mom asked firmly.

“B-Because…” Dustin stuttered.

“Because there are stupid rats and Dustin’s a stupid scaredy-cat who’s _scared_ of them.” Steve finished. There was a protest of _“Steeeeve!”_ and a chuckle from the oldest Harrington son.

“I think we can survive a couple-a rats.” came a man’s gruff voice.

 _Must be the police android,_ she thought. There were footsteps, and from inside the little hidden compartment, squashed together with pieces of gold and gold bars, she saw a fair of legs. Another pair of legs joined them, then Dustin and Steve’s legs came into view.

“What you got down here?” Will’s mom.

“Not much. Only boxes full of stuff that our parents can’t be bothered to put away.” Steve said with an uncharacteristic bitterness to his voice. “All bullshit, really.”

“Uh-huh…” Ms. Byers muttered. She was so close to the little compartment that Nancy was sure her stress level was skyrocketing.

The man also came close. Nancy put a hand on Mike and Will’s mouths.

“Blueprints of your house say that there was a plan to have a small little compartment. Did they get round to doing it?” The man asked.

“No, they’re lazy assholes.” Steve told them. She saw Mike suppress a giggle from the side and gave him a stern look.

“Wait, what’s this…?” Ms. Byers was grabbing at the compartment edges.

“A-Ah! That’s nothing, Detective Lieutenant!” Steve told them nervously. Nancy could tell that the two didn’t believe him.

Nancy considered her options; she could stay here, get reset for being a deviant, and get Will in trouble, or smack Ms. Byers on the head and hopefully get away.

She went with the latter.

She smacked the brunette in the face with the hidden compartment door.

“Hey!” the police android yelled, leveling his gun. Nancy ran towards him and they had a tug of war for the gun. Steve intervened and grabbed the gun and shot the man in the hand, shaking. Nancy grabbed the pocket knife she had gotten earlier and wanted to stab him, but couldn’t.

_Is he alive?_

No…

He wanted to kill her…

_He is alive._

Nancy grunted and stabbed him in the arm, then grabbed Will and Mike’s hand, and ran.

They ran out the house, and she saw Dustin following, but no Steve.

Shit.


End file.
